Impersonation Plan

After thinking alone while laying in bed, Rosalind came to the conclusion that the impersonation plan was probably the better of the two. Leaving Rosalind’s body now and letting her mind resume control was still too risky. Earnest’s mind would probably be able to impersonate Rosalind’s for the time being, after all he knew her since childhood. In fact Earnest had probably watched Rosalind closer than she had watched herself. He knew all of her little subconscious habits, how she avoided eye contact when she told little lies, how she would always save the best part of her meal for last…

Pulling himself back from wistful reminiscing, Earnest was confident that he could be a passable Rosalind, but he didn’t forget about Alesia. They had only known each other for a short time, and her personality was quite different from his own. She was unfortunately one of the weak points of this plan, but there were things that could be done to mitigate this. Before the knights and church arrived, Earnest could coach Alesia on how to act like him.

There was no communication from the knights and church as to when they would arrive, but a few more days was a safe estimate. During those days, Earnest could teach Alesia how to act like him. It wouldn’t just be sharing what he knew, but also how he spoke, how he moved, how to be a proud knight. There obviously wouldn’t be time to teach Alesia everything though. She would have to avoid anything that had to do with swordsmanship, but the chances that she would have to use it were slim. Even with this coaching, Earnest would make sure to stay by Alesia’s side as Rosalind, and cover for her if needed.

Rosalind’s head had worked enough. It was late at night now, with the moon providing the only source of light. She laid still in the bed, staring at the blue moonlight that flooded her room. Even though she could still feel a small undercurrent of heat flowing throughout her body, she was feeling tranquil and somber. Earnest’s mind returned to his past with Rosalind. He couldn’t help remembering better times, and felt profoundly lonely. The real Rosalind wasn’t here, and she might not come back if Earnest’s plan didn’t work.

Thankfully, Rosalind could feel her body’s exhaustion from her earlier workout and was able to drift off to a dreamless sleep.

…

The next morning Rosalind awoke, feeling surprisingly energized. She got up and stretched, finding that yesterday's exercise didn’t result in any sore muscles this morning. She left her room and knocked on Earnest’s door. Again, Rosalind was greeted by her former body, which was still weird. Rosalind invited Earnest to a meal, which he agreed to just like the last time. The two made their way to Coltia’s room and invited her too.

The three went downstairs and joined the rest of the patrons for breakfast. They sat at their own table and Coltia cast a couple of spells to make sure that the group wasn’t overheard and didn’t draw much attention. They resumed last night’s discussion on which plan they would use to deal with the incoming knights and church members.

Rosalind spoke and shared the thoughts she had last night, and expressed support for the impersonation plan. Even after the explanation, Earnest’s face still looked concerned. Earnest explained his worries about impersonating a knight, one that he didn’t know all that well. Even though the current mind inhabiting Earnest’s body and the original Earnest had traveled together, talking and learning about each other along the way, it was far from the level of impersonating one another. It was just too much to ask from the person that was just a shy apothecary until recently. Lastly, Coltia gestured towards Rosalind and voiced her opinions.

“I agree with Earnest, we should go with the impersonation plan. From what I have learned from Morgan’s journal, Rosalind’s mind is still very unstable. Before we stopped the misfit boys, they were taking turns possessing her for days on end, with no time for her mind to rest. Can you imagine it~? Three horny young men forcing this beautiful young lady to act in such an uncharacteristic way~ Using her body as they pleased and staining her mind with their desires~”

Rosalind felt the effect of Coltia’s words on her body, and quickly took out Alesia’s potion and downed half of it. Coltia continued.

“It’s too soon for Rosalind’s mind to be awoken, but that’s not the only reason I want us to choose the second plan. Alesia, dear, I know you’re nervous, so let me tell you a little about myself. I’m an apprentice studying magic, and before my master sent me on this journey, they taught me spells to change my appearance. I’ve used them many times, and have become quite fond of them. There’s nothing like it~ Imagine, dear Alesia~ Imagine everyone around you seeing Earnest the knight, not Alesia the apothecary. Imagine the feeling, knowing that they have no clue who you really are~ You can walk among them, and only a handsome young man will be reflected in their eyes. Oh Alesia, you’re scared of being caught, but you haven’t realized that this is an opportunity to be Earnest in the eyes of the world~”

Rosalind gave Coltia a sideways look, as she didn’t really like the direction that Coltia was headed, but it seemed to sway Alesia’s mind a little. Coltia continued to push in her persuasion.

“Also~ Earnest is asking for more help than before. When you two met he just wanted your help with potions and healing didn’t he? In exchange, he would work at your store, and spend time with you. He never asked you to impersonate anyone, right? Well I’m sure that Earnest here wouldn’t mind offering some additional compensation for all this extra work and trouble, wouldn’t you Earnest~?”

Coltia notioned to Rosalind, who replied.

“Oh, uh, yeah sure. I don’t know what I can offer right now, but I’ll be sure to properly reward you for your help Alesia.”

Earnest’s brow was furrowed, and it looked like he was still on the fence, so Coltia spoke up again to finish her convincing.

“Besides~ You aren’t so bad at acting like a man when you need to~ Don’t forget that I’m just next door to you, and I have sensitive ears you know~”

Earnest’s eyes went wide in surprise. He seemed taken aback, almost panicked by what Coltia had just said. Rosalind didn’t quite understand what Coltia was implying, but whatever it was, it got Alesia to quickly agree to the impersonation plan. Rosalind was curious, but didn’t bother prying into the matter. At least everyone was on board now. Rosalind took control and led the conversation to discuss the details.

First, while Earnest’s mind was in Rosalind’s body, his two partners would call him Rosalind, and while Alesia’s mind was in Earnest’s body, they would call her Earnest. This would help them get used to responding to these names. Also, Alesia’s mind would spend more time in Earnest’s body to get used to it. On top of this, “Rosalind” would spend time teaching “Earnest” how to be himself. “Earnest” seemed onboard for this, but brought up a good issue with their plan.

“What about the misfit boys? They know that we used their dark magic spell to beat them. What if they tell the knights and church?”

Coltia responded.

“Yes indeed, the misfit boys do know that we used the spell that they borrowed from Morgan to beat them. They may pose a little problem~”

The group started discussing the misfit boys and the risk they posed to their plan. They knew that Earnest swapped himself into Rosalind’s body during their fight, but they didn’t know that Earnest had stayed ever since. Still, the misfit boys had nothing to lose, and from what Earnest knew of Ricard’s personality, he might just try to drag them down out of spite. Coltia seemed to remember something and interjected.

“Ah! I almost forgot what I did~ We might need to start calling the misfit boys… the misfit girls soon~ After you left our little questioning session, I felt that it was too unfair that only Barnabas was going to experience womanhood, so I made sure Ricard and Thomlin would be able to keep her company~ By now, my magic should have done it’s job~ Hmm… Bernadette… Rosie… and Theresa… sounds nice doesn’t it~? Well, they can choose their new names on their own~”

The group continued to discuss ideas on how to deal with the misfit… girls, and arrived at two opposing choices. The first choice was to do nothing, and hope that the knights and church members that would arrive to arrest and investigate them would pay no heed to their accusations. The second choice was to fool them into believing that Rosalind had her original mind back, and the group wasn’t in the scrambled state that their current situation had put them into.